


the dust of my loneliness

by MiniNephthys



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-07
Updated: 2015-11-07
Packaged: 2018-04-30 11:48:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5162738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiniNephthys/pseuds/MiniNephthys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Let's let a story be told.  (Ripples that end in their original pond.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	the dust of my loneliness

Let me tell you a story.

Well, no, that’s not quite right. There’s not a “me” any longer, not like there’s a “you.” There’s so much of “you”, over and over again, while the “me”... can’t even be heard by you now.

Let’s let a story be told. That sounds better. Don’t you think so?

You know Sans. Maybe not as well as you think you do, but you know him. He’s changed since everything happened. Feelings of futility can wear on a skeleton, grind their bones to nothing but dust even without a knife to stab them with. Slower than a knife, but more painful.

When Sans was still working in the labs, we - is “we” acceptable terminology? This is troubling, to say the least.

When Sans was working in the labs, there was little time for breaks. No time for anything fancy for lunch, or for dinner when he worked late. He worked late more often than not. He used to be a hard worker, when it looked like there was progress to be made.

We had a microwave, but there are only so many foods that taste decent reheated in a microwave. So he brought Grillby’s. Don’t know how Grillby does it, but his food is always delicious. Was always delicious. Can’t taste it any longer, of course, but it’s likely still the same way.

Can’t get fat off it either. So that’s something, too. Funny, Sans’ tab never changed since then. Even rewriting people out of history won’t keep bartenders from collecting their dues.

A bit of a side note, though. Back to the point.

Sans didn’t always love Grillby’s, but he learned to love it because that was what there was that was practical and efficient. No sense in being ambivalent about something you eat all the time. He can cook, but not at the labs, and now, the motivation is hard to find. Like getting blood from a stone.

Just a bit of monster humor. Monsters don’t bleed, of course. And neither do stones. We got that expression from humans, a very long time ago.

He still buys all his food from Grillby’s. There are other ways to get food in Snowdin, and it’s not as though he’s there all the time. He’s practically everywhere all the time. Not literally, like what used to be “me”, but you understand the meaning.

Not certain why, the process has changed, but the end result is the same. You could ask him, but it wouldn’t be a good idea. Best not to.

It’s like that with most things. The paths leading up to them might have altered slightly, but the result is a world almost exactly like the one that W. D. Gaster left.

From an objective standpoint, it’s fascinating. Could study it all day - ripples should make waves, but these have led straight back to the water they came from. Subjectively, well.

It’s good that there’s no one left who’d be upset about it, isn’t it?

...Ah, Papyrus. Papyrus has always been like that. A bit older now, and better at cooking. Talented, resolved to be a good person no matter how bad things get. There’s a lot to be proud of there.

Doesn’t remember a thing, not like Sans. That might be why he’s the happier one. Toying with a different hypothesis now, though. Might just be determination, to try and keep Sans happy, too.

They’re good for each other. Either one of them would break if the other one turned to dust, but together they’re a pair of functioning skeletons, more or less.

Makes you wonder if they ever needed anyone else at all.

...It probably doesn’t make you wonder that, does it? Hah... Just ignore that, like you’re ignoring everything else in this story. It’s easy.

Why tell this story at all?

Boredom, mostly. Boredom is a concept that applies even to people who don’t exist. Insidious, really.

You’re fighting someone now, or trying not to fight them. Better stop trying to distract you. It might actually work one of these days, and then where would we be?


End file.
